Love's Little Games
by foreverhigh
Summary: Love is cruel. By the time Edward realises that he loves Bella, it's too late. Because she's found someone else she likes. Edward now has two choices - he can be the best friend he's always been and help her get the guy she wants. Or, he can make her fall for him in the process.
1. Chapter 1

Broken Ties

When my alarm clock went off, I was already awake.

I sat up on my bed with my feet resting on the floor and closed my eyes for a while with my head hung low. I took a deep breath, and thought to myself, _Don't make such a big deal out of it. One fourth of the kids in my class have gone through their parents' divorce. Besides, you'll be back in a year._

I released my breath in a sigh as I opened my eyes, with a new resolve to deal with everything as strongly as I could. But almost instantly, my resolve was shattered when I laid my eyes upon a picture resting on my bedside table.

Edward.

I took the frame in my hands, reminiscing the happy moment we had shared when we had this picture taken. All the memories we had shared together, our unbreakable bond of friendship, and how he was almost the brother I never had. I had never managed to reach the intensity of our friendship with a girl, because between girls, there was always cattiness, jealousy or inhibitions about the other friend being more popular.

Edward was the reason I managed to get through the day in school. Both of us came from money, and we were in a school which didn't have all that many students. It was largely divided into two categories – the cheerleader types with jock boyfriends who talked about how they almost slept with an older guy in college and who complained almost on a daily basis as to why their boobs couldn't be bigger. Then there was the intellectual group, the one which had girls and boys with perfect resumes who would almost certainly make it to some Ivy League college (not just because of legacies), get a top notch job later, and leave their own mark on the world.

Me? I didn't belong anywhere. I didn't look good – far from it. Despite living in a place which was almost perpetually under sunlight, I was as pale as anyone could get. Other than this, there was no feature I had that made me stand out. I was clumsy, and moved without grace. My hair was long and brown, and my inability to manage it caused me to tie it up every day, until one day when I finally gave up on trying to loosen knots and had it chopped off short. Too short, for my liking.

Edward had joked and called me a punk rocker while I sulked, and I had thought, why not? So from then on, my wardrobe consisted only of blacks, navy blues and super dark shades. Somehow, it helped me be overlooked by the others, as it probably made me seem not very approachable.

Edward had been there with me throughout the days, no matter how many people called me a freak or passed comments about my unusual ordinariness. Interestingly, this was in spite of the fact that he was a fine looker himself. He still hadn't reached the stage when he was completely masculine, but there was no denying that he had beautiful features.

His eyes were a shade of green, a startling green that reminded me of lush forests. His hair was soft and almost bronze in colour, and seemed to style itself on its own. He was really thin, almost to the point where it looked unhealthy, which made it impossible for him to be a jock.

That didn't stop him from being hit on by the girls from time to time. It wasn't very frequent merely because he was spotted with me most of the time. I was some sort of a repellent, and occasionally, I would apologise to him for stopping him from discovering his popularity potential. He would say that I was being silly and brush it off. And I could tell that it really didn't bother him, because he wasn't quite the type to enjoy attention either. It was only him who made me feel that I wasn't completely a freak, and who made my days not just tolerable, but also enjoyable.

Now that my parents were going to get divorced, I was being sent to live with my aunt in California until my mother sorted out the divorce. It was a stupid custody situation that I couldn't avoid. For a year, I had to live there, with my aunt and her beautiful daughters until my mother joined me, in a place where I would feel even more out of place. And this time, I would have no Edward by my side, making me believe that life wasn't all that bad, discussing music and bands that we both loved, and hardly being affected even when I snapped at him frequently during PMS.

A tear slipped from my eye and fell onto the glass of the picture. I watched its progress down as it reflected various colours in the sunlight filtering through my window. Downstairs, I could hear Mom fighting with Dad again, and I thought I heard something shatter, with a ringing sound. Maybe it was one of those crystal pieces.

Or maybe it was my heart.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Oh, and please review and tell me what you think of it! I'm awfully busy, with exams looming up around the corner, and hearing what you think of it, and whether it's worth continuing, will really help me take some time out to update :)


	2. The Shiny New Toy

It had been two weeks since school started. After the initial excitement, discussions about vacations, boyfriends and summer programs attended, the old routine of school had returned, and the atmosphere was subdued and uneventful.

Edward Cullen stood in the Physics lab, carrying out some experiments which were a part of an advanced placement class assignment. He was smiling and humming as he worked today. He was having happy thoughts of reunion with the only friend he had ever been really close too. It had been a little more than a year since he had last met Bella. Sure, they had kept in touch through text and phone calls. But the prospects of being with her everyday in person, just like the old times, had put him in the best mood he had been in a long time.

The sound of a few giggles made him turn around. Standing at the door, were three girls – two blondes and one brunette. They made a show of hushing up when they saw that he had noticed them, and entered the lab. Edward merely went back to work.

"Hey!" the brunette trilled. "We were wondering if you could show us how to operate these...?" she looked at the apparatus he was using, apparently at a loss to know what it was called. "We have to work on them too, you see, and we haven't the slightest idea as to how to use them. Could you please help us?" she ended her request with an obvious display of batting her eyelashes.

A mental sigh went through Edward's head. Requests similar to these kept coming. And somehow, they always ended in the girl bending a little too low and trying to give him a show while trying to perform the experiment when he was close. It was almost disgusting to see the lengths to which some girls could go to get his attention.

But before he could give the girls some sort of excuse, a heard a shout from outside.

"Oi! There's a new girl!"

The three girls before him looked at each other with a look that was somewhat alarmed. They left the lab, their heels clicking. Curious, Edward too followed suit. The Physics lab was at the end of the corridor, and the girl would most probably end up going into one of the earlier classrooms, so it would be a safe spot to observe from.

She was tall, with brown hair that had subtle highlights of golden in it. She had a marvellous figure, one that was slim yet had perfect curves. She wore a simple black tank top with skinny jeans, and still managed to look like a model as she walked down the corridor with a graceful stride. She wore smart black shades. She was very fair, with slightly flushed cheeks.

As she walked, testosterone pumped guys watched her, first from the front, and then from the back. But she seemed to be unlike the other gorgeous girls in school. She held her dignity and walked straight ahead, not seeming to enjoy the attention all that much.

At last, she came to a stop, right in front of Edward. By then, the people staring were gawking.

Edward watched, frozen. She pulled her glares up to rest on her head. And as he watched, she winked and said, "Miss me?"

She had brown eyes, beautiful warm chocolate brown eyes.

At that instant, Edward felt like any one of those testosterone pumped guys ogling.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Tell me. How do I look?" Bella asked Edward as she pirouetted before him. She was wearing a glittery silver dress, and her brown highlighted hair fell thick and lustrous on her shoulders. She had on smoky eye make-up.

Edward shook his head lightly.

"Oh come on! Why not?" Bella asked.

Edward sighed, and said, "I can't believe what I'm about to say. You look... sexy."

She was about to blush, but her expression changed to a smirk instead.

"You look pretty hot yourself," she said, looking him up and down.

Edward had a brief flash of a memory, when it had been his 15th birthday. Bella had refused to wear anything fancy, and ended up wearing a t-shirt with denims. The only change had been that she had left her lush hair open.

He hadn't believed the change when he saw her when she returned. He had thought it was some sort of a prank. But as it turned out, her cousins, who were two beautiful young well-groomed ladies, had harried her daily, telling her to let them give her a makeover, if even for a day. She had eventually agreed, and let them do their work. Bella had refused to look in the mirror after they were done – it was just like her to have her way in some aspect even while she was giving in.

But when she had gone to school, people stared. From becoming the new invisible girl, she had become a hot commodity in the school, someone mysterious and gorgeous. At the end of the day, Bella had thought hard about the new change. She wasn't used to attention – hell, she wasn't even used to being noticed.

And, she couldn't help but think she looked good that way. Her cousins had told her that beauty could open almost any door. After the treatment she had gotten at school, she couldn't help but feel that maybe they were right. She hadn't ever been crushed on by guys earlier, and sometimes it had made her feel like there was some sort of deficiency in her.

So she had let them do their magic. She had been invited to the coolest parties and partied hard, dated the captain of the football team and just felt really good. She liked being pretty. Her self esteem had been given a boost.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Looks like they've started coming," she said, excitedly. She took Edward's arm and dragged him along to open the door. A week after she had returned and settled in, she had decided to hold a party in her house. Her dad, being wealthy had a huge house, and he was only too willing to let her do what she wanted to so that she would be happy here. So she had spent a day or two with Edward, preparing for it. Food, drinks, music – and of course, making the living room free of breakable stuff.

She had sent out invitations to not just the popular people in school, but also the quieter and reserved ones. She hadn't forgotten how it had felt for her to be invisible.

Edward hadn't been too keen on having the party. He was just as she remembered – sober and responsible. She had spent the whole of the week with him, indoors, outdoors and at school. It wasn't like they had had much to catch up on, though. She hadn't told him about her new social life, as she had wanted to keep it a surprise for him. And Edward hadn't been surprised by her lack of a social life when they talked, because that's how it had always been earlier.

Bella realised just how much she had missed him. She hated the attention he was getting from slutty girls around school, and once almost told them to back off. She knew that she was getting attention from guys the same way, but she wasn't too interested in them. It wasn't like Edward was interested in those girls either... still. She couldn't bear seeing him with one of _those_ girls.

Before they knew it, guests were pouring in. By 10:30, it looked like way more than a hundred people had turned up.

The music was on full blast, the smell of vodka and perfume had settled in the air, and people were dancing and screaming, some making out, and some playing at the foosball table.

Bella had been with Edward the whole time. Now that it seemed as though everyone had settled in and the party was in full swing, she readied herself to join. She pulled Edward by his hand through the crowds, which made way for her saying in slurry voices, "Great party, Bella!"

She grabbed a bottle of vodka from the bar and took Edward out in her room, which, thankfully was free of people or couples making out.

Bella kicked off her heels and sat on her bed, motioning for Edward to do the same.

"If you wanted to have this party in the first place, why're you here?" he asked quizzically.

"Oh that's just a requirement of some sort to fit in. They'll remember what fun it was. I don't personally enjoy all that... madness. I don't know if you noticed, a bunch of girls had stripped down to their lingerie."

"Actually, I did." Edward said with a small smile. She thought that just because he was her best friend, he wouldn't notice the females around him. She seemed to forget that he was a guy, with feelings in that direction.

"Riiight. You first?" Bella held up the bottle towards Edward.

Edward shrugged, and took a gulp. He looked up to see Bella looking at him intently.

"What?" has asked.

"Nothing."

She took a long swig out of the bottle, reducing it to almost half.

"Whoa, that's a lot!" Edward exclaimed.

"I like taking long swigs. It gives a better kick, and you don't have to keep having to taste that shit. Gimme that," she said as she grabbed the bottle from him and reduced what little was left to a peg or two.

"Umm, Bella? Since when have you been such a drinker?" Edward asked in a worried tone.

Bella had fallen back on her bed, and seemed to be revelling in the effects of the alcohol.

"Word of warning: before, I get too... stupid," she said, slightly disoriented, "don't let me get out of the room under any circumstances. I go crazy... I don't want to end up doing or saying anything stupid."

"Then why have it in the first place?" Edward said exasperatedly.

"It feels good. Feels like, there's no worry in the world. Something's wrong though. I'm having a terrible headache right now." She winced and said.

"I'll get you some Tylenol, hang on." Edward said, and left the room.

When he was back, he saw Bella almost half asleep. _She's odd,_ he thought to himself with a smile.

"Here," he said while giving her the pills with a glass of water.

"Cuddle me to sleep, Eddy? You know, I really missed you." Bella said in a groggy voice.

Edward fell back on the bed with his back a little upright, and she placed his head on his chest as she breathed slowly, almost asleep. He lightly stroked her hair back from her face.

This was somewhat anti-climatic. He had expected her to go all crazy, and thought that he would have to stop her from taking her clothes off in front of everyone. But then again, this was Bella. She was unpredictable. He was glad that at least some vestiges of the old Bella had remained.

As he looked at her, he too fell asleep, his hand in hers.

* * *

Yes, I know it somewhat sucked. I wrote this chapter while bunking my Chemistry practical exams. So badass, haha :p But yes, I meant it to be something like a filler. Interesting stuff will be coming up next time, though :D  
Review, please? I'm completely open to constructive criticism and ideas :)


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